Railway switch point support



June 7, 1949. H. L. BONE I RAILWAY SWITCH POINT SUPPORT Filed Sept. 10, 1945 ll||||| w l l iHW i r l rIL H L L FIL 1 IL I LF FF Yr I I I I I l l I l I l I l I l i I IIIIIA INVBNToR. fi erbape Bone.

57,5 ATf lfORNEY Patented June 7, 1949 RAILWAY SWITCH POINT SUPPORT Herbert L. Bone, Forest Hills, Pa., assignor to The Union Switch & Signal. Company, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 10, 1945, Serial-No; 615,433

1 Claim.

My'invention relates to railway switches, and particularly to railway switches in which the movable switch points are supported through the medium of associated antifriction bearing members which ride on cantilever spring members secured at their outer ends to the adjacent stock rail.

As is Well understood, the purpose of supporting the movable points of a railway switch in the manner just described is to reduce friction while the switch is being thrown. To this end, it is desirable that the cantilever-spring members should supportabout eighty per cent-of the weight of the switch points and their connections, the remainder of the dead weight and the weight of passing trains being carried by the usual riser plates. The weight of the switch points varies considerably with the length of the switch, the degree of wear of the switch points, the type of connections employed, the rail size, etc., and it follows, therefore, that in order to obtain the desired operative relation between the supporting cantilever spring members and the switch points it is necessary to be able to adjust the spring members to vary the amount of support provided to the switch points by the spring members.

One object of my present invention is to provide novel means for accomplishing this result.

Another object of my invention is to provide adjusting means for the cantilever spring members which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple to operate, and which can readily be applied to switches which are already in service.

My present invention is an improvement over the switch point supporting means described and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States 1,965,803, granted to W. M. Post et al. on July 10, 1934.

According to my invention each spring member is secured by means of two laterally spaced bolts to the under side of a supporting bracket attached to the outer side of the stock rail, and interposed between the bracket and the spring member is a fulcrum plate so disposed that by properly adjusting said bolts said spring member can be rocked about an axis parallel to the rail to thereby raise or lower the inner end of such spring member.

Other objects and characteristic features of my invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

I shall describe one form of railway switch provided with one form of switch point supporting means embodying my invention, and shall then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In-the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a top plan view showing a portion of a railway switch point provided with point supporting means embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in both views.

Referring to the'drawings, the reference characters I and 2 designate respectively one of the movable switch points and the adjacent stock rail of a railway switch of the usual well-known construction. The stock rail 2 is supported on riser plates 3 secured to cross ties 4 in the usual manner, and the switch point I is intended to be moved toward and away'from rail 2 b any of the usual switch throwing devices, not shown.

Rotatably mounted in a bracket 5 attached to the movable switch point I between two of the adjacent ties 4 is a roller bearing 6 which cooperates with a resilient cantilever supporting mem ber l in the form of a stack of flat spring leaves of graduated lengths disposed with the longest leaf at the top of the stack. The supporting member 1 extends transversely underneath the movable switch point I and the stock rail 2 and is secured at its outer end by means embodying my present invention to the under side of the laterally projecting horizontal arm 8a of a bracket 8, the vertical arm 81) of which is secured to the vertical web of the stock rail 2 in any suitable manner, as by a bolt 9.

The supporting member I is intended to pro-- vide a yielding rolling surface for the roller 6, and thus reduce the amount of force required to throw the switch. As was pointed out heretofore, it is desirable that this member should support approximately eighty per cent of the weight of the switch point and associated connections, and in order to accomplish this result it is necessary to be able to accurately position the supporting member relative to the switch point in a vertical plane. The means embodying my present invention for securing the supporting member I to the bracket is intended to permit the desired positioning, and in the form here shown comprises two bolts I!) and II, which extend through laterally spaced aligned holes provided in the spring leaves of the member I and in the horizontal arm 8a of the bracket 8. This means also comprises a fulcrum plate l2 which surrounds the outer bolt ll between the arm 8a of the bracket 8 and the upper spring leaf of the member I, and which is shaped to provide a horizontal axis extending parallel to the rail about which the supporting member can be rocked by properly adjusting the tension on the two bolts l and II. To facilitate this adjustment, the lower ends of the bolts are provided with non-circular heads which cooperate with down turned flanges I3a on a pressure plate 13 to prevent the bolts from turning, and the upper end of the inner bolt I0 is provided with a castellated nut [0a for the reception of a cotter key l5, while the upper end of the outer bolt H is provided with a plain nut Ila and with a lock washer It.

With this arrangement, in order to obtain the desired adjustment the nut Ha on the outer bolt H is first loosened, and the cotter key [5 is then removed from the slotted nut Illa on the inner bolt Hi. If the switch point is not already in the position in which it is in engagement with the associated stock rail, it is moved to this position, and the slotted nut Illa is then turned up or down to such a position that the movable switch point is lifted just free of the riser plate at the location of the point supporting structure but is not lifted sufficiently so that the end of the point stands clear of the riser plate on the #1 tie of the switch. The cotter key If; is then replaced in the slotted end lt'a of the nut IE! and the nut i la is tightened to securely clamp the parts in their adjusted positions.

it should be pointed. out that while, as shown in the drawings, the fulcrum plate 12 is disposed with the tapered side up, this plate might equally be reversed without affecting the operation of the adjusting means.

Although I have herein shown and described but one form of railway switch embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the 4 scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Havin thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A bracket and cantilever spring assembly for attachment to a track rail in a position in which the free end of the spring is in supporting relation to a movable switch point, said assembly comprising a bracket having a vertical arm adapted to be secured to the outer side of the track rail and a horizontal arm provided with two laterally spaced holes, a cantilever spring provided at one end with holes which align with the holes in said bracket, bolts extending through the aligned holes in said bracket and said spring, and a fulcrum plate surrounding the outer bolt between said cantilever spring and the underside of said horizontal arm of said bracket, said fulcrum plate being shaped to provide a horizontal axis extendillg parallel to the rail about which said spring can be rocked by adjustin the tension of said bolts, and sufiicient space being left between said bracket and the underside of said horizontal arm except at said plate to permit the desired amount of rocking to be effected.

HERBERT L. BONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,922,781 Rogers et a1 Aug. 15, 1933 1,927,973 Bull Sept. 26, 1933 1,9 5,803 Post et al. July 10, 1934 

